hindsight haiku — pink cadillac (on the road)

Back in Pennsylvania. I always think I’m going to post more than I do from the road. But at the end of the day, I find myself exhausted. Out as soon as the head hits the pillow. Perhaps it’s the introvert in me. I love traveling West to East, North to South, all the people I see only once a year. I wish there were a dozen of me. Maybe a baker’s dozen.

Yesterday I drove 13 hours back from Georgia with Mom. I spent this October day with my family in Pennsylvania. It’s almost 4am and I find myself wide awake, wanting to write. It’s the best I can do to post a haiku, a note, a few photographs from the Pink Cadillac Diner in Natural Bridge, Virginia. It’s a little off the beaten trail. Mom was finishing up her ice cream cone while I walked out to photograph the Caddy. A young woman strode proudly up behind me with her two daughters, camera in tow.

“My dad took a photo of me in front of this very spot,” she said, “and now I get to take a photo of you.” Snap. I watched her daughters gleaming next to the rusty chrome. “Would you like me to take a photo of all of you together?” I asked. “I’d love that,” she smiled, rushing over to hand me her pocket camera.

Lineage. Family legacies. The things we pass down.

The day was perfect for driving. The light illuminated by Fall. I hung my head out the window and snapped photos of a sunset front over Virginia. There is so much to tell. For the time being, will you settle for the highlights?

15 Responses

That haiku is perfect, absolutely perfect. It took my breath away. Jump hoops through the looking glass.

I don’t know if anyone else notices this, but when you go home to the South, and to the North, your writing is its most powerful. It’s the little things I notice, the turns of phrase. Your voice flows. You feel so at home.

yb, thank you. I appreciate your observation. I don’t know or notice that there are changes. I know it brings many things up, taps at some deep roots in me. This year I stayed in the upstairs room of my uncle’s house. No TV or electronics up there, which is different than almost every other room in the house. It looks out over Clarks Hill Lake. There are no other bedrooms up there. I was thinking it would be a good place to sequester myself to write when I get to the point when I’m ready to hunker down and get the writing done. The seed’s been planted in the back of my brain.

Each time I go South, different experiences, different things come up. People move on and change. It’s good to see the continuity. And to know that I’m changing, too. I’m packing tonight and getting ready to fly home tomorrow. My brother and mother are driving me back down to Baltimore in the morning. The Fall weather has been perfect everywhere I’ve been. Hope it holds out one more day. Did you hear about those pilots who overflew Minneapolis last week? Saw that they might have been on their laptops. Crazy.

Hope all is well in New Mexico. Tonight I’m carving pumpkins with my niece, sister, nephew. I can’t think of what to draw. What kind of face should I put on her?

QM, what an awesome visit yesterday & today! Great to see you again! Sounds like you had a wonderful trip, but I’ll bet you are tired! That’s an awful lot to do in a short period of time! All my love, D

diddy, great to have a late lunch with you and J. today. Thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s been a great visit with the family. I’m online now, sending my plane info to R3 to print for me so I don’t have to figure out how to get things hooked up here on my laptop. Don’t feel like figuring out how to download printer drivers, etc.

We went back to the antiques mall and I picked a little something up for Liz. More of the past in the antiques business. Boy, does it bring back memories when you browse the antique malls. It reminds me of Antiques Roadshow that Liz and I love to watch. How do people know what all those old objects are worth?

I was really busy this trip. But it was a good visit. I’m also looking forward to being home again. It’s all good.

Hope you’re safe & probably home by now? Mom told us what you bought for Liz! Yes, I love antique shopping or just browsing! Would have loved going back to that shop with you & Mom, but I know J’s feet would not have been able to tolerate it. BTW, I think I ate at least 30 boiled peanuts for my snack last night & then gulped down 2 bottles of water! D

Wow. Your list of highlights, as brief as it was, really moved me. What a deep and vivid journey you’ve been on.
Welcome home… but then, you have several homes, don’t you, several different eras, different longitudes and latitudes.

Home again, home again. Ah…unpacked and relaxing, getting ready for work tomorrow.

diddy, got home around 1pm CST. Good to be home. Was also good to see everyone. I’m beat though. A few days until the weekend. Gave Liz her presents and she liked them. (Oh, the moratorium on mugs did not last.)

Jude, thank you. Several homes, crosshairs of longitude and latitude. When I was unpacking I ran across the ring that my two aunts had given Mom to give me, along with a letter. It was my Grandmother Estelle’s, the one whose grave I visited last week for the first time. Liz teared up when I asked her to read the letter.

It really is moving to take the journey back and witness the healing that can occur. Intergenerational healing. Brings up lots of feelings. But also allows movement forward. Thanks for stopping by today. Good to get your note!

ybonesy, made it back in one piece. Flew from rain in Pennsylvania to beautiful golds and reds of Fall in Minnesota. We really hit the weather right this trip. Mom and I had great Fall weather. My luck continues. Hope all is well on the Ravine.

I forgot to mention. We also have a moratorium on bags in our house. And guess what Liz had gotten for $3 for me? A new camera bag. Which is good. Because the green one I was using this trip was a bit too small. (And this one has a red interior, my fave color.)

Which reminds me. When I was going through security in Baltimore, there was a mother and two girls in front of me. The two girls were wearing cowgirl boots with LEDs that blink on the bottom heel. I told them how cool I thought their boots were. One of the girls said her favorite color was green. Her sister’s was blue. I said mine was red. “See the red glasses,” I said. She looked at me. Then said, “Yeah, your shirt is red, too.” I think she was thinking about the color red as a new fave color. Great boots though. I wanted a pair. When I said I wanted to go buy a pair, she said, “You can’t. These are only for kids.”

Hmmmm. Oh, well. BTW, MOM, Liz loved the new clothes you helped me shop for. Thank you! You should be a personal shopper. You’d be good at it. All is well back in Minnesota. Ask me again at 5am. 8)

Welcome home, QM. Hope you are fast asleep by now, getting up as you do at 5a. (I’m having a hard time waking up at my usual 6a these days, given the dark, dark mornings. Are you having a hard time with the alarm?)

The LED-heeled boots sound fabulosa. I wish they made those kind of shoes for adults. Who’s to say we can’t wear lightning in our heels??

The girls’ favorite colors were my favorite colors. One of my inner twins loves blue, the other green. 8)

Can’t wait to hear more about the ring your aunts gave you and the letter. Wow. I hope you will share, if you’re so moved.

Also, I hope we get to see pics of the pumpkins before the big day-o (Halloween-O). Welcome home.

Thanks, all. Good to be home. What a great journey it was though. yb, I’ll think about posting the letter and telling a little about the story of the ring. It was a complete surprise to me last year. Seeing my grandmother’s gravestone this year helped complete the saga.

Last night I kept looking for those boots that lit up with LED’s on the girls’ Halloween costumes. Didn’t see them though. The mother told me where she got them but now I can’t remember. If I spot them in Minnesota, I’ll let you know.

[…] is beautiful in the Fall. Maybe it’s because in October I traveled to Pennsylvania, drove down to Georgia and South Carolina, then flew back to Minnesota, that I paid more attention to the skies. Or because I’m out […]

[…] of year when I think often of family and loved ones, living and dead. One of the highlights of my October trip to Georgia was visiting my Grandmother Estelle’s grave for the first time. I did not know her well, had […]